The library system is moving to a new mobile app! The current library mobile app will not be available after February. This only relates to the library’s mobile app (used on phones and tablets). You can still connect to the library through your desktop, laptop, or mobile device’s web browser at https://burlingame.bibliocommons.com/ Projected date for the new mobile app is March. We apologize for the inconvenience

Saltwater Slavery

A Middle Passage From Africa to American Diaspora

Stephanie Smallwood offers a penetrating look at the process of enslavement from its African origins through the Middle Passage and into the American slave market. Her story in animated by deep research and gives us a startingly graphic experience of the slave trade from the vantage point of the slaves themselves.

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An important work that fills in some missing gaps in most people's knowledge, this book illustrates how ruthless people can be to become wealthy. It is the non-fiction story of how African tribes often killed their enemies in wars (as did white people and most other peoples) or enslaved them. They sometimes sold their enemies into slavery with another tribe and when white men came wanting slaves, the victors in the inter-tribal wars saw a huge market for what they had to sell. There are wrenching descriptions of what the captives endured in Africa, on board slave ships, and various locations around America. I was totally absorbed by the book; it is a must-read for all who are students of American history and/or the history of slavery.